Microsoft to challenge iCloud with SkyDrive OS X client

Microsoft is readying a significant update to SkyDrive in Windows 8, and reportedly leaked screenshots of the revamped file syncing and cloud storage service show that a Mac OS X client could be poised to compete with Apple's iCloud.

The purported SkyDrive images were posted on Saturday by Brazilian blog Gemind, and show demo downloads (machine translation) for Windows or Mac apps that will allow for automatic syncing, storage and remote access to files from the cloud.

Also of note are paid storage options that can be purchased in 20GB, 50GB or 100GB flavors for approximately $10, $25 or $50 per year, respectively.

The extra space will supplement the already copious 25GB in free storage offered by SkyDrive. In comparison, iCloud only offers 5GB of free cloud storage, however Apple's system does not count Photo Stream, iTunes' media, apps and iBooks against the limit.

According to Microsoft's blog, the Metro-style cloud-based Windows 8 app will share characteristics with Dropbox in that users can sync and backup certain files automatically, though SkyDrive goes further and allows limited remote access to files not synced to the cloud. Maximum file size for remote file fetching is pegged at 2GB.

Ars Technicapoints out that website LiveSide.net also posted screenshots that showed SkyDrive would support file sharing through social networks like Twitter and Facebook, BitLocker recovery keys, OpenDocument files from Office Web Apps and URL shortening.

iCloud's current file-syncing implementation is aimed mainly at iOS users who can backup device profiles and data to the cloud. Apple's free service does support certain automatic syncing to OS X programs such as Photo Stream and a clunky Pages document syncing procedure, but the process is not as smooth as other third-party solutions.

This situation could change when OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion is released this summer as many iOS features like Notification Center and iMessage will be ported to the desktop operating system, though no official word has been given regarding iCloud upgrades.

Apple has invested heavily in iCloud, and the service which was introduced alongside iOS 5 could be getting more features, as previous reports that the company offered to buy Dropbox in a failed nine figure deal point to a definite interest in automatic file storage and syncing.

I use Microsoft Live Mesh already on all my Macs. It gives me UNLIMITED GB of syncing across three machines. There is no cloud storage, but I don't need it if it is syncing to all my machines (about 230GB and works flawlessly).

It looks like SkyDrive and Live Mesh have a lot of overlap...I don't know why they can't just combine the products into one.

Maybe it will make Apple bring back some kind of unstructured file storage to iCloud which is really the only thing missing.

There are APIs for iCloud that would let Dropbox, SugarSync, anyone with some Objective-C knowledge, and even MS create their own hierarchal storage system that syncs via iCloud.

Also, even with the Open dialogue box in apps for iCloud there is a structured file system, but it's been simplified to match that of the iOS Home Screen as access from iDevices is the main reason for its inclusion.

I've used SkyDrive a few times and found it to be cumbersome, slow and very poor. I switched to Dropbox last year and it's brilliant. Like night and day. If they offered a bit more than 2GB free more people would switch.

Also, I had a friend who uploaded some "adult" content to their SkyDrive account. Within a few hours they received an email informing them that they had breached the terms of their account and it was being closed. How did Microsoft know? They must monitor what people put into their SkyDrive accounts.

I think the best strategy for MS at this point is to fully embrace both OSX and iOS. They should stop the practice of artificially limiting what they sell on Apple's platforms just to prop up Windows. I hope this is a step in that direction.